Interesting, but dictionary.com and m-w.com claim that it's a contraction of "al(though) be it". * http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/albeit * http://w

Interesting, but dictionary.com and m-w.com claim that it's a contraction of "al(though) be it". * http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/albeit * http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/albeit